Grilled Haggis

At first we were like, “Let’s cook a haggis on the barbecue.” Then we were like, “Ooh, yuck, it’s got guts in it”. And then, we were like, “Let’s call Bon-Ton and see what they say”. And they were all like, “Oh, we do all the hard work for you, why don’t you just come and pick up a haggis that’s all ready to cook?”. And THEN we were like, “Super, let’s go over there and pick one up.” And so, off we went to Bon-Ton Meat Market to check things out:  

Where the experts are: Calgary’s Bon Ton Meat Market. These folks are serious about good food.

On the right: the filling. It’s…oatmeal. And some other things. On the left: the casing. Normally Haggis is made using a sheep’s stomach as a casing but, this being Alberta, Bon Ton uses beef bungs (look it up).

Stretching the lining with water.

Clayton expertly stuffs the casing with the filling.

Portioning the large casing into smaller Haggi.

The Haggis tradition is in good hands. Over the next few weeks, Bon-Ton is Calgary’s ground-zero of Haggis activity.

Some businesses paint their windows for Christmas, some paint their windows for Stampede…

We grilled the Haggis using indirect heat: we put a full water pan underneath the haggis and kept the heat very low. So, no direct heat could hit it. We kept the barbecue on medium heat for about an hour. Tip: you’ve got to poke multiple holes in these things so that the pressure doesn’t build up too much in them.

Delicious Haggis freed from its casing.

Some of our staff proved more ‘delicate’ and avoided trying this delicious culinary morsel. At worst it was described as “better than I thought”. At best it received a “delicious”. I thought it was great. Sort of like a pastry-free kidney pie.